The nuclear icebreaker Lenin on its maiden voyage

While looking at some old postcards in my possession today, I found this 1959 picture of the world´s first nuclear powered surface ship, the Soviet icebreaker NS Lenin (134 x 27,6m). The ship was launched in 1957 and put into operation in 1959. The ship´s maiden voyage was a big event in the Soviet Union at that time.

The Lenin was officially decommissisoned in 1989, two years before the "decommissioning" of the Soviet Union. She is now a museum ship in Murmansk.